Windsor-Essex Parkway

[Innsertnamehere]

does it really matter all that much if it is delayed? it is largely meant to be a feeder route to the new bridge, which is still a long, long way off.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

does it really matter all that much if it is delayed? it is largely meant to be a feeder route to the new bridge, which is still a long, long way off.

If nothing else, it bypasses a bunch of traffic lights and will have a higher speed limit on the way to the existing Ambassador Bridge. It will also provide a faster route to the industrial areas on the west side of Windsor.

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

does it really matter all that much if it is delayed? it is largely meant to be a feeder route to the new bridge, which is still a long, long way off.

For the stretch past Huron Church Road (Hwy 3), I would agree, as border traffic would use it to here until a new bridge is built.

[sa230e]

I think the cost overruns will provoke more anger than the delays (although the people living near the construction might disagree). And it might get worse. Apparently the local company (Prestressed Systems) is now involved in the girder scandal, too.

http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2013/09...r-controversy/

The article doesn't say it, but given that both companies have been caught tack welding, you have to wonder if ALL the girders are now suspect. Apparently the commission that's investigating the matter has asked for more time to report, which doesn't bode well. If it's true that all the girders are bunk, that's a major catastrophe. Then again, tack welding is supposedly considered fine everywhere else but here. Apparently we have extra strict regulations. I'm all for prudence, within reason, but if those strict regulations are going to blow up costs for a negligible increase in safety then I say keep the girders. And really, I can't see the committee doing otherwise if they're all defective.

So, ironically, the least needed section (between the future bridge and the Huron Church / E.C. Row interchange) will probably the first one to be completed. Even without the girder problems it would probably still be the first. It's a fairly monumental stretch of road but still less monumental than the below grade section. It seems to be coming along well. They're flattening it out and it looks like they're getting ready for paving. Girders are up on the Malden road overpass. And those girders went up after the announcement of the girder problems so I think it's safe to say they're sound. The two flyovers on this stretch have been poured but as far as I know the forms are still up.

[sa230e]

From Spring Garden Road



From Bethlehem Ave Connector:

[sa230e]

The final verdict on the girders is in (at least the ones made by Freyssinet) and it appears they're faulty. The panel recommended two possible options: replace them or retrofit them.

The CBC has the breakdown of the report (and the full 165 page report) here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windso...port-1.1894197

[Symz]

lol


source: http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2013/10...tober-03-2013/

[sa230e]

They're going to retrofit the girders. I guess HalJackey was right after all.

http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2013/10...creased-costs/

[libtard]

This project will be forever tainted now

[sa230e]

Howard Ave is going close soon at Hwy 3. Right now the original road is still there and on either side is the trench for the parkway. They're going to dig it out, connect the trenches and build the bridge.

http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2013/10...-of-highway-3/

[haljackey]

I took a couple quick shots of the Windsor-Essex Parkway construction today

[sa230e]

New video is here:

• Video Link

[Symz]

The province today announced that the faulty girders installed on the Hon. Herb Gray Parkway will be taken out and replaced with new girders.

Source:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windso...aced-1.2325566

[sa230e]

Originally Posted by Symz

The province today announced that the faulty girders installed on the Hon. Herb Gray Parkway will be taken out and replaced with new girders.

Source:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windso...aced-1.2325566

Good. I think it was the right decision. Shoddy components should not be tolerated on a project of this caliber. This will be one of the defining features of our city. It's imperative it be done right and be as safe as possible. This was a bad screw-up and it never should have happened. That said, this was probably the best possible resolution to it: The girders get replaced, Freyssinet eats the cost and gets kicked off the project.

More details can be found in the Windsor Star article:
http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2013/11...-say-builders/

[sa230e]

From this afternoon:

Looks like they're laying down some pavement. I guess they're expediting some of the other tasks due to the girder thing. This is at Lambton Street:





Off-ramp taking shape at Bethlehem Avenue connector:



From Spring Garden Road:



In other news, Hwy 3 at Howard Ave has been walled off. When I was there last it looked like they've ripped up the road but haven't really dug it out.

I've also started a photo blog to post my photos to. I've got a huge backlog to post up there and I was going to wait until it's up to date but I'm about a year behind so I figure I'll just announce it now:

http://hgparkwayblog.wordpress.com/

[sa230e]

New aerial photos up here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hgparkw...h/10843676706/

[Symz]

I think I remember a recent article said the girder fiasco set this project back by a year.

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by Symz

I think I remember a recent article said the girder fiasco set this project back by a year.

...And may ultimately push the bridge back a year as well.

This is so dumb. The cash-strapped province was looking at ways to cut corners and they got caught in the act. Now they're spending more time and money fixing the issue than if they just did it right the first time.

Ah politics...

[sa230e]

Originally Posted by haljackey

...And may ultimately push the bridge back a year as well.

This is so dumb. The cash-strapped province was looking at ways to cut corners and they got caught in the act. Now they're spending more time and money fixing the issue than if they just did it right the first time.

Ah politics...

I don't see how it could possibly push the bridge back. It's not even in the planning stage yet. As far as I know they haven't even chosen a design. They're two separate projects that can be done asynchronously.

As for the girders, unless I'm quite mistaken, that really was Freyssinet's fault. They didn't get certification, they hired workers who weren't certified, they didn't stick to proper design and they did shoddy work. The province wanted the girders done to code and they didn't deliver the girders the province ordered.

If the province effed anything up, it was proper oversight. They didn't have anyone on site for quality control and failed to keep tabs on their contractors. Then when conscientious workers finally blew the whistle, they sat on the news for six months. Finally when pressure mounted and they broke up a few girders to check them out they finally found it just how bad they were it forced them to scrap the lot of them.

Is that a big failure? Yes, absolutely. But it wasn't corner-cutting, it was poor enforcement of proper standards.

And it shouldn't cost the province much more since it's already been agreed that girder replacement will come at Freyssinet's expense (as it should).

[sonysnob]

Originally Posted by sa230e

I don't see how it could possibly push the bridge back. It's not even in the planning stage yet. As far as I know they haven't even chosen a design. They're two separate projects that can be done asynchronously.

As for the girders, unless I'm quite mistaken, that really was Freyssinet's fault. They didn't get certification, they hired workers who weren't certified, they didn't stick to proper design and they did shoddy work. The province wanted the girders done to code and they didn't deliver the girders the province ordered.

If the province effed anything up, it was proper oversight. They didn't have anyone on site for quality control and failed to keep tabs on their contractors. Then when conscientious workers finally blew the whistle, they sat on the news for six months. Finally when pressure mounted and they broke up a few girders to check them out they finally found it just how bad they were it forced them to scrap the lot of them.

Is that a big failure? Yes, absolutely. But it wasn't corner-cutting, it was poor enforcement of proper standards.

And it shouldn't cost the province much more since it's already been agreed that girder replacement will come at Freyssinet's expense (as it should).

The only thing that scares me about the cost are the legal challenges that are going to come from this. Freyssinet will undoubtedly sue someone to try and recoup the cost somehow. Even if the province isn't at all liable, I think some construction lawyers are set to make an awful lot of money in the near future.

I skimmed through the full report that was published about the girders a couple of weeks ago. It did detail what the province knew at what time, but the document is pretty thick, so I didn't go through it with enough detail to know. The province seemed to know that the plant wasn't CSA certified for a while, but I am not sure they knew that the tack welding was going on the whole time.

I wasn't sure, but will the newly completed North Talbot Road overpass need to be demolished to replace the girders? It's such a disaster if it does.